Sometimes, all it takes to doom a film’s box office prospects is a slew of negative reviews in advance of the opening. As a result, more and more studios are bypassing the review process altogether, refusing to give critics an early look at flicks deemed unlikely to win them over, or unlikely to need a critical boost in any case. “In the past, a typical nonscreened movie was a studio mistake dumped to satisfy contractual obligations. Now, nonscreening is more often part of a conscious marketing policy, particularly flicks aimed at teens.”